Abstract: In a printer system which allows printing in multiple fonts, where the font to be used is specified in an encoded document to be printed, an operator designation of font equivalency is provided which specifies acceptable font substitutes of available fonts for unavailable fonts. Upon detection of a document specification of an unavailable font, a print controller searches a mapping of known fonts to available fonts to determine if an equivalent font has been designated. The mapping is operator-set in accordance with the operator perception of equivalence. Font equivalency mapping may be a yes/no equivalent, indicating substitution or job fault, or the mapping may have a multilevel substitution hierarchy, in which degress of equivalency are determined by the operator, and result in different warnings or machine operations dependent on different degrees of equivalency.